Initially founded in 1999 as Urizen by Kam Lee, the band changed name to Akatharta in the early 2000s. Their slow and heavy Doom-filled Death metal verges on a Thergothon/Wormhplegm funereal pace and aesthetic, with modern production values and the injection of samples and melodic, cinematic introductions and bridges.

akatharta (ἀκάθαρτα) is taken from the Greek 'pneumata akatharta' (πνεύματα ἀκάθαρτα), commonly used in the Bible and meaning 'unclean spirits'. The direct Latin translation, 'spiritus immundus' was used as the title for their debut release.